| • | NHL, NHLPA Meeting Today In N.Y. To Continue Negotiations On CBA |
| • | Thursday/Saturday TV Package A Likely Topic Today At NFL Owners Meeting |
| • | Ticketmaster Today To Announce Exclusive Deal For All SMI Racetracks |
| • | Wisconsin State Sen. To Seek Return Of Excess Lambeau Field Tax Money |
| • | Gary Sheffield Today To Meet With MLB’s Bob Watson Over Fenway Incident |
| • | Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
NHL, NHLPA TO MEET TODAY IN N.Y. TO CONTINUE CBA NEGOTIATIONS
USA TODAY reports that NHLPA and NHL officials will meet in N.Y. today to continue CBA negotiations, though “there is no indication” an agreement is imminent. The league’s BOG will meet tomorrow in N.Y., where “it seems likely” that the idea of using replacement players will be discussed. Stars President Jim Lites, on using replacement players: “Some [teams] think it’s terrible. Some say it’s a good idea, but you can’t sell it. Some say it’s a pretty good idea, they think they can sell it, but it would be terrible for the game” (USA TODAY, 4/19).
The WINNIPEG SUN reports that the following will attend today’s meeting (WINNIPEG SUN, 4/19).
| NHL | NHLPA |
| Commissioner Gary Bettman | Exec Dir Bob Goodenow |
| Exec VP & CLO Bill Daly | Senior Dir of Business Affairs Ted Saskin |
| Outside counsel Bob Batterman | Associate Counsel Ian Pulver |
| Devils President, CEO & GM Lou Lamoriello | Outside counsel John McCambridge |
| Flames co-Owner and NHL BOG Chair Harley Hotchkiss | |
| Bruins Owner Jeremy Jacobs | |
| Predators Owner Craig Leipold | |
NFL OWNERS COULD DISCUSS THURSDAY/SATURDAY TV PACKAGE TODAY IN ATLANTA
 |
| Upshaw (r) Hopes CBA Extension
Next Deal To Get Done |
NFL owners are meeting today in Atlanta, and the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes a Thursday/Saturday TV package starting in ‘06 “could be a topic of discussion” following the league’s announcement yesterday of deals with NBC and ESPN for Sunday and Monday night games, respectively. One possibility is the Thursday/Saturday package running on NFL Network, since the league “has made so much money” from the new Sunday night and “MNF” deals. NBC Universal Sports & Olympics Chair Dick Ebersol, on his network potentially carrying a Thursday/Saturday combination: “I would say we have probably made the deal we want to make” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 4/19).
The WASHINGTON POST reports that NFLPA Exec Dir Gene Upshaw said yesterday that he “expects the union and the league to agree to an extension” of the CBA now that the league’s TV contracts have been completed. Upshaw: “There was always a school of thought, ‘Why should we finish the labor deal when we haven’t finished the TV deal yet?’ Now we’ve finished [it] … and we can move forward” (WASHINGTON POST, 4/19).
TICKETMASTER TODAY TO BECOME TICKET PROVIDER FOR SMI TRACKS
By Scott Warfield, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal
SMI and Ticketmaster will announce today that the ticketing company will become authorized ticket dealer for all six SMI speedways. SMI Exec VP/National Sales & Marketing Marcus Smith said that three of the tracks previously had deals with Tickets.com, two with Ticketmaster and one with Paciolan. The six speedways covered in the agreement are: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Infineon Raceway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.
WISCONSIN SENATOR TODAY TO SEEK EXCESS LAMBEAU FUNDS FOR TAXPAYERS
The GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE reports that Wisconsin state Sen. Rob Cowles today will ask the state’s Joint Finance Committee to return $1.17M in excess Lambeau Field tax dollars to the Green Bay/Brown County Professional Football Stadium District. Since November ’00, Brown County residents have paid a half-cent sales tax to help cover the $295M Lambeau Field renovation. Each year, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue keeps 1.5% of the tax raised for “administrative costs” (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 4/19).
MORNING BRIEFS
Yankees RF Gary Sheffield, along with his attorney, Rufus Williams, and Yankees COO Lonn Trost, will meet with MLB VP/On-Field Operations Bob Watson at Yankee Stadium today to “discuss his role in the incident” at Fenway Park last Thursday. An MLB official said that Sheffield “might be fined,” but that “it was unlikely that (he) would be suspended” (N.Y. TIMES, 4/19).
N.Y. Council Zoning & Franchise Committee Chair Tony Avella yesterday called for a hearing regarding the battle between MSG and Time Warner. Speaking for Mets fans on Staten Island, Council member James Oddo told execs from the cable companies, “You sound like a bunch of rich suits who are tugging over money” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 4/19).
N.Y. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum said that her office will announce plans today to sue the Metropolitan Transportation Authority regarding the sale of the West Side railyard development rights to the Jets (NEWSDAY, 4/19).
The Palace of Auburn Hills received approval on a $12M, 60,000-square-foot expansion from the Auburn Hills City Council (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 4/19).
TaylorMade Chief Technical Officer Benoit Vincent on the USGA’s idea of changing golf balls to reduce distance: “They keep trying to solve a problem that really isn’t that big of an issue. Maybe only 10 players in the world are creating this issue at a couple of tournaments. We just think the USGA is working on the wrong problem with wrong solutions” (USA TODAY, 4/19).
Davidson County (TN) Chancery Court judge Ellen Hobbs Lyle will issue a ruling today regarding Riddick Bowe’s attempt to obtain a boxing license in Tennessee. One of three rulings is expected: “Grant Bowe a license, deny him a license or remand the decision back to the state’s boxing commission with instructions to have Bowe examined by a third-party physician” (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 4/16).
Association of Summer Olympic International Federations President and IOC member Denis Oswald said yesterday that WADA “reduced its out-of-competition [drug] checks by more than half -- from more than 5,000 in 2003 to 2,400 in 2004.” Oswald: “We were told there are some financial concerns and that WADA has limited means. ... We feel there should be priority on out-of-competition tests” (USA TODAY, 4/19).
Chiefs TE Tony Gonzalez will serve as host and provide counsel to USC DL Shaun Cody on Spike TV’s reality show in which Cody will select an agent. The show is set to premiere Friday, July 22 at 10:00pm ET (Spike TV).
German pay TV group Premiere, less than two months after its US$2.3B IPO, announced plans for an expansion to include its own sports-rights division and free TV business. The new division, Primus Sport, will handle all acquisitions and marketing of sports rights for the company (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 4/19).
THE BACK PAGES
The Morning Buzz offers today’s back page sports covers from some of the nation’s major metropolitan tabloids:
| | |
| N.Y. Post | N.Y. Daily News |
| | |
| Philadelphia Daily News | Newsday |
ATTENDANCE WATCH
A three-day crowd of 84,455 – the largest opening weekend crowd since PNC Park opened on ’01 – attended this weekend’s Cubs-Pirates series. The Pirates also saw the second largest walk-up attendance in PNC Park history on Saturday – 8,806 – and Sunday’s crowd of 20,416 represented the first time the team has sold over 20,000 tickets for a Sunday game in April since the ‘01 season (Pirates).
TODAY’S EVENTS
MLB, in conjunction with the Nationals, will launch the eighth season of “Breaking Barriers: In Sports, In Life,” a multi-curricular character education program developed by MLB, the MLB Players Trust and Scholastic, Inc., at 11:00am ET on the campus of Howard Univ. in DC. MLB Educational Programming Consultant Sharon Robinson, the daughter of Jackie Robinson, will host the multi-city tour that runs throughout the ’05 season.
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) will hold an 11:00am ET press conference at the Air Canada Centre to announce a major downtown development in Toronto. MLSE President & CEO Richard Peddie and Exec VP/Business Development & CFO Ian Clarke, among others, will participate.
The NBA will host a 2:00pm ET conference call to discuss the ’04-05 NBA Playoffs. NBA Commissioner David Stern, Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik and Senior VP/Basketball Operations Stu Jackson will participate.
The Grizzlies will rename the FedExForum Media Center after former team broadcaster Don Poier, who passed away in January, at a 2:00pm CT ceremony. The Don Poier Media Center will house photos and memorabilia honoring Poier and the Grizzlies (BIZJOURNALS.com, 4/18).
MLBP and Hart Sharp Video will release “YANKEEOGRAPHY Vol. Three” today. The three-disc DVD features former and current Yankees players including: HOFers Joe DiMaggio, Catfish Hunter, and Reggie Jackson and All-Stars Goose Gossage, Bobby Murcer and Jorge Posada.
IN OTHER NEWS….
USA TODAY reports that Verizon yesterday unveiled a deal “to carry all of NBC Universal’s channels on a television service,” FiOS TV, due out this year. Verizon is “stringing high-capacity fiber-optic lines in several communities” for the service that will “connect to a home’s existing cable or satellite wiring.” Verizon also has deals with the Discovery Networks and Liberty Media’s Starz Entertainment Group (USA TODAY, 4/19).
The N.Y. POST reports that Nets investor Jay-Z and Audemars Piguet today will unveil a limited-edition line of watches. The watches will cost $24,000-100,000, “depending on whether they are made of stainless steel, rose gold or platinum. Only 100 are being made -- 50 in stainless steel; 30 in rose gold; and 20 in platinum.” Each watch will come “with a specially engraved iPod with Jay-Z’s albums already uploaded” (N.Y. POST, 4/19).
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was “Invented Words.”
“In works by Lewis Carroll, this word means ‘four in the afternoon; the time when you begin broiling things for dinner.’”
LAUGH TRACK
THE MONOLOGUES:
NBC’s Jay Leno: “How many of you are here because after you paid your taxes Friday these are the only free tickets you could afford? ... Today, President Bush was in South Carolina to push his plan for people to invest their social security money in the stock market. Good timing! What was the second choice, the National Bank of Iraq? ... Today, the Vatican released a puff of smoke which means they have not picked a new Pope. Do you know how this works? White smoke means they’ve picked a Pope, black smoke no and brown smoke means they’re burning a copy of the ‘Da Vinci Code.’ ... This is the 50th birthday of McDonald’s. It’s a pretty amazing company, McDonald’s. They started out small and now they’re huge, just like their customers. George Steinbrenner lashed out at his Yankee ballplayers after they lost eight of the first 12 games. Steinbrenner said the team is not playing like true Yankees. Yeah, now they’re playing like true Lakers” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 4/18).
LAST NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
| Net | Show | Lead | Next Items |
| ESPN | “Around The Horn” | Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner | Cavs must make playoffs to retain LeBron James; Nats in first place |
| ESPN | “PTI” | “MNF” moving to ESPN | Yankees; Red Sox punishing fans involved in Sheffield altercation |
| ESPN | “SportsCenter” | Devil Rays-Yankees | Red Sox punishing fans involved in Sheffield altercation; “MNF” moving to ESPN |
| FSN | “BDSSP” | Lance Armstrong’s retirement | Yankees; Red Sox punishing fans |
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
“What is brillig?”
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